Tang Zhixue, who had been looking forward to the martial arts clone all this time, froze on the spot, staring blankly at the dark brown Martial Arts Fruit in his hand.
"What do you mean, [This martial arts clone will regard you as an enemy and attack you without end]?"
Tang Zhixue squeezed the hard Martial Arts Fruit. "I thought it would be the kind of clone that could follow my orders, but this is what I get? What use do I have for a martial arts clone that attacks me?"
"Martial arts, martial arts..."
Tang Zhixue paused, a strange expression crossing his face. "Could this thing be meant to train my actual combat skills?"
With that thought, he made a small cut on his left index finger with his hunting knife, letting blood slowly seep out, then carried the Martial Arts Fruit into the martial arts space.
Although he had no energy to activate the time flow, it was still a spacious enough area to serve as a battlefield for now.
Standing in the center of the martial arts space, Tang Zhixue smeared the blood from his left index finger onto the Martial Arts Fruit.
Buzzz...
The Martial Arts Fruit immediately let out a hum.
Crack... crack...
Accompanied by faint cracking sounds, numerous fissures appeared across the dark brown Martial Arts Fruit's surface.
Seeing this, Tang Zhixue hurriedly placed the Martial Arts Fruit on the ground, then took several steps back.
Crack... crack...
Two or three breaths later, a pitch-black humanoid creature appeared before Tang Zhixue.
"Uh..."
Tang Zhixue looked at the little black figure before him, wanting to speak but hesitating.
"You're... the martial arts clone?"
He had never imagined that the martial arts clone would look like this.
Whoosh!
Just then, the martial arts clone bounded up to Tang Zhixue, raised his hand, and threw a punch.
"Hey, you really do attack me as soon as you appear!"
Fortunately, Tang Zhixue had been prepared. He dodged sideways, curling his right hand into a claw and lashing out.
Black Tiger Steals the Heart!
Although Blazing Tiger Fist was only a cultivation fist technique, Tang Zhixue still instinctively used it to attack.
It might not have much killing power, but at least he was practiced at it.
Thud!
The blow made the martial arts clone sway, and he stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance.
"An opening!"
Tang Zhixue strode forward, clenched both hands into fists, and struck again.
He put seventy percent of his strength into this punch, his fist whistling straight toward the martial arts clone's face.
Commit seventy percent of your strength and hold thirty percent in reserve.
The martial arts clone had only just steadied himself. Faced with Tang Zhixue's powerful punch, he could only hastily raise both arms to block.
Thud!
The fist slammed hard into the martial arts clone's arms with a dull impact.
Yet the scene Tang Zhixue had expected did not happen. The martial arts figure merely crouched slightly and leaned back, dissipating the force.
Ridiculous!
Tang Zhixue cursed inwardly. He had not expected this martial arts clone derived from him to know a move like that, when he himself did not even know it.
"In that case, let's go again!"
Tang Zhixue kicked hard off the ground, pursuing like a tiger pouncing on prey, his fists flying as he attacked from both sides.
That sounded impressive, but in reality, he was just flailing wildly without the slightest structure.
He had only practiced a cultivation fist technique. Surely no one could expect him to launch fierce attacks with a cultivation method?
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Perhaps because Tang Zhixue had seized the initiative, all three consecutive punches landed solidly, battering the martial arts clone from side to side.
Tang Zhixue was delighted at the sight. "Am I about to win already? This martial arts clone isn't much after all!"
He drew a deep breath, pushed the power of Blazing Tiger Fist to its limit, and hammered a heavy blow toward the martial arts clone's chest.
Press the advantage and pursue the routed enemy!
Thud!
Yet to Tang Zhixue's surprise, the martial arts clone used the force of his punch to rapidly put distance between them.
"Keeping his distance?"
For some reason, an ominous feeling suddenly welled up in Tang Zhixue's heart at the sight.
As the martial arts clone staggered backward, his right hand suddenly reached behind his back.
The next instant, he held a pitch-black bow in his hand.
Looking at the pitch-black bow, which looked identical to the Wooden Bow, Tang Zhixue's mouth twitched. "Come on, man, how did you pull out a bow?! And I'm barehanded. Isn't using a weapon a little unfair? A ranged weapon, at that."
The martial arts clone paid no attention to Tang Zhixue's complaints. He held the bow in his left hand and drew the string with his right. Pitch-black energy gathered furiously at his fingertips, forming a sharp arrow in the blink of an eye, aimed straight at Tang Zhixue.
???
Tang Zhixue grew even more frantic. "Energy arrows? How come I didn't know I had an ability like that?"
Frantic as he was, if he had a choice, he genuinely wanted that ability.
Besides looking cool, it would save him from having to carry arrows when he went out, making things much more convenient.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that moment, Tang Zhixue got a thorough taste of his own deadly archery. Faced with the arrows shooting out in rapid succession, he had no desire to even try dodging.
But driven by his survival instincts, Tang Zhixue still desperately ran farther away to escape the rain of arrows.
In the end, however, it was futile.
Whoosh!
Thwack!
A black arrow tore through the air and struck the left side of Tang Zhixue's chest with perfect precision. A piercing agony instantly shot through his chest.
Yet this was only the beginning!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A dozen or so arrows followed in succession, taking advantage of the opening to turn Tang Zhixue into a pincushion.
I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. I'm really going to die this time...
The agony coursing through his entire body left Tang Zhixue dazed for a moment, and scenes from his past involuntarily flashed through his mind.
Mom, Dad, I'm coming to join you...
Brother, I'm sorry. I'm going on ahead. It's just a shame I never got to eat your soy sauce noodles again...
Tang Zhixue slowly began to collapse...
"Huh?"
He suddenly stopped. "Why am I not dead?"
It hurt, but it seemed... nothing was wrong?
Looking down, he discovered that the pitch-black arrows that should have been embedded in his body had disappeared.
He reached out and felt the spots where he had been shot. "There really aren't any wounds?!"
He looked up at the martial arts clone, who had already lowered his bow and stood quietly three meters away, watching him.
"So you... can only make me feel real pain, but can't actually hurt me?"
Tang Zhixue straightened up and curled his lip at the martial arts clone. "Then why did you pull out a bow? I almost thought I was going to see my parents!"
The martial arts clone did not answer. He simply stood there, watching him quietly.
"Seriously, you... holy shit!"
Just as Tang Zhixue was about to complain some more, the bow in the martial arts clone's hand dissolved into pitch-black particles and vanished, and he suddenly sprinted toward him.
"Motherfucker, you're really never going to stop, are you?!"
Tang Zhixue took up the opening stance of Blazing Tiger Fist again, intending to keep using this method against the martial arts clone.
Before you continue